Woman’s Christmas lights flip the bird at neighbor

A woman in Louisiana has been ordered by police to take down a Christmas light display shaped like a hand giving the middle finger, and the American Civil Liberties Union is sticking up for her.

Denham Springs resident Sarah Henderson said she feels the insulting display is the only way she can effectively communicate with her neighbors, with whom she has an ongoing dispute, Louisiana newspaper The Advocate reports.

An Advocate staff photo shows a blue-haired Henderson taking the lights off her roof. She told the newspaper that she might replace the middle finger with a swastika, adding “I’ve always been a little different.”

Henderson’s neighbor, Gemma Rachal, told The Advocate that her 6-year-old son saw the lights and tried to copy the offensive gesture.

The ACLU of Louisiana sent an open letter to the Denham Springs police chief, demanding that Henderson not be fined if she decides to reinstall her light display. “The law on this issue is perfectly clear: the City may not restrict Henderson’s expression purely because it, or Henderson’s neighbors, finds it vulgar or offensive,” the letter states.